Sonny calmly sets the water down in front of Kristen. "How much money do you need?"

He sees it clearly, the quick satisfaction in her eyes before lowering them. "5 grand. But it's not my fault! It's really not. I put my trust in the wrong people. A guy," she says tiredly. "And he up and took off with the money and left me in debt. If I don't pay it back, they'll track me down and do something to me. And Marlena and Will."

Sonny sits back down, staring at her intently. "You're lying. You just want to squeeze 5 grand out of me so you can buy drugs and take off again. You think I'm so naive, but you don't know how wrong you are. If it wasn't for Will, I'd give you a few hundreds to make you go away. But you see, Kristen, Will is a part of it. He would hate it."

She splashes the water in Sonny's face, but he doesn't even blink. "Fuck you."

"I thought I made it abundantly clear that was never going to happen."

"Think you're so smart? Some bigshot just because you have money?" She gets to her feet. "Big, fancy, privileged family. I did my homework on you, Jackson Kiriakis. I want to ask you exactly what that big, fancy, privileged family's gonna think when they hear you're bumping uglies with a Horton?"

The use of the last name like that has Sonny's gut clenching, all the way in the back of his throat, in his head. Her face changes right in front of him, filling up, becoming older. Colder.

Adelaide.

"Get the hell out." He doesn't know, not for sure, if he's talking to the woman in front of him or the ghost. His hands shake as he grabs the edge of the table.

"All those business folk up there in Chicago, how are they gonna like it when they hear their precious son is hooking up with Sami Brady's son? No money or pedigree. Runs the family bar with a grandma that talks to crazy people. Gonna disown you right out of the family, hun. Leave you with nothing with this big white elephant of a mansion. Especially once I tell them you fucked his stepmom too."

Under different circumstances, he'd be laughing at the very idea of fucking a woman, much less Kristen DiMera. As it is, his legs are weak, but he somehow manages to stay upright. "Get the fuck out before I attack you."

"You'd never raise a hand to a lady. Don't think I don't know what kind of guy you are." High on coke and confidence, she tosses her hair back. "You wanna keep fucking my stepson, and you wanna keep your family in the dark, you're gonna write me a check. And you'll write it right now. And it's gonna be ten thousand, just for hurting my feelings."

"Your feelings aren't worth a tails up penny on the sidewalk, Kristen."

"They will be once I have a nice little chat with your mom."

"My mother is going to eat you alive." Sonny walks to the counter, yanking open a drawer and pulling out a yellow pad, writing a number on it. "Here's her number. Give her a call. Use my phone if you want, long as I'm listening the entire time. I would love to hear her rip you to worthless shreds."

"I need money!"

"It's not coming from me." Patience finally running out, he grabs her arm and pulls her towards the door. "I can do so much more to you than you can to me. That is a promise." he says, then slams the door in her face.

He has to sit down, at least till he can feel his legs under him again. He feels sick, physically sick. Something had happened when Kristen was ripping on Will. Her face had changed to one he's only seen in his dreams.

That face belongs to the mansion, or to the part slamming the doors, that wants him to go away.

Wants to hurt him.

There's no denying it now, he tells himself, that Will's stepmom wants to hurt him too.

He gets up, going towards the phone. The one good thing to come out of all this was it made him appreciate his own mother.

He dials a number, and feels refreshed at the familiarity of her voice.

"Hey, Mom."

"Sonny? What're you doing calling in the middle of the day? Is something wrong? You had an accident."

"No, I--."

"All those tools. You cut yourself."

"All my limbs are intact, as well as everything else. I just wanted you to know I love you."

There's a very long pause, then, "You have a brain tumor and have three months to live."

Now he's laughing, "Fine, you got me. I'm a dead man walking and wanted to call my family so I can get an awesome wake."

"Now how about you tell me the real reason you're calling, Sonny?"

"I wanted to tell you about the man I've fallen in love with and plan to spend the rest of my life with."

An even longer pause. "Are you serious?"

"Yes I am. You have a few minutes to spare?"

"I think I can move a few things around for this."

"Okay." Sonny walks over, picking up his lemonade. The ice has already melted, but he chugs it anyway. "His name's Will Horton, and he's handsome, intriguing, frustrating, stubborn and perfect. He's perfect, Mom."

"When do I get to meet him?"

"Chad's wedding. There's still one minor catch in the plan--besides the fact that he's not ready to say yes to my proposal."

"I'm sure you'll find a way around that. What's the catch?"

Sonny sits down and tells her everything about Kristen.

When he finally hangs up, he feels like a weight's been lifted.

On impulse, he goes upstairs to clean himself up and change.

Looks like he's gonna be confronting Will ahead of schedule.